Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-42

NLT

[4] (1) Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (2) (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them-his disciples did). (3) So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. (4) He had to go through Samaria on the way. (5) Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (6) Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. (7) Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” (8) He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. (9) The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” (10) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” (11) “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? (12) And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” (13) Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. (14) But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (15) “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” (16) “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. (17) “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband- (18) for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” (19) “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. (20) So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” (21) Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. (22) You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. (23) But the time is coming-indeed it’s here now-when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. (24) For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (25) The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming-the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” (26) Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!” (27) Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” (28) The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, (29) “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” (30) So the people came streaming from the village to see him. (31) Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” (32) But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” (33) “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. (34) Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. (35) You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. (36) The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! (37) You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. (38) I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” (39) Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” (40) When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, (41) long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. (42) Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

NRSV

[4] (1) Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” (2) -although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized- (3) he left Judea and started back to Galilee. (4) But he had to go through Samaria. (5) So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. (6) Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. (7) A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (8) (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) (9) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) (10) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (11) The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? (12) Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” (13) Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, (14) but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (15) The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” (16) Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” (17) The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, “I have no husband’; (18) for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” (19) The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. (20) Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” (21) Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (22) You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. (23) But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. (24) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (25) The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” (26) Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” (27) Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” (28) Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, (29) “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” (30) They left the city and were on their way to him. (31) Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” (32) But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (33) So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” (34) Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. (35) Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. (36) The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. (37) For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.’ (38) I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (39) Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” (40) So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. (41) And many more believed because of his word. (42) They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”